Finding a Clover
by MistyFog
Summary: Knives wakes up a little green haired girl named Clover from cold sleep. She now spends the rest of the remaing trip with the crew on their journey... if only things had turned out that way. Knives x OC x Vash. Full description inside. Rated M for possible later chapters. Please R&R!
1. Awakening

Disclaimer: I do not own Trigun or anything relating to Trigun. I only own Clover my original character and this story. This story is based off of the anime alone, not the manga.

Genre: Romance, Adventure, Tradegy, Drama and Supense, Angst, Frienship and Hurt/Comfort (not all are in every single chapter, this is an over all genre.)

Warnings: Spoilers of course but why are you reading fanfics if you haven't finished the anime, yet?

Rated: Mature for later chapters

Description: This story takes place in different universe. Where Knives wakes up a little green haired girl named Clover from cold sleep. She now spends the rest of the remaing trip with the crew on their journey... if only things had turned out that way.

**Finding a Clover**

Knives stood in front of the door leading to cold sleep chamber. The door slowly slide open as Knives quietly walked in. He nativigated the huge room well; he had snuck in here before. This was his favorite place on the whole ship; he couldn't explain why. Maybe it was because it was always so quiet? Aside from the low humming of the machines keeping the people in their chambers asleep. Another reason could be because no one but himself ever comes down here. Whatever the reason was, he found this place the most peaceful on the ship and the most interesting. Knives approached a cold sleep pod and stared at a middle-aged, fat, balding man with a red shirt on and matching pants.

"I wonder if they dream...?" the thought echoed in his mind as he walked to another row of sleepers.

He had a specific destination in mind. He walked a few rows down gazing at all the sleepers. He walked past two more rows of sleepers until he came upon the row he was searching for. Two pods from the left and four rows down slept a little girl. Knives wasn't sure of her age because the only ones who he had to compare with were him and Vash. Her hair was slightly wavy and dark green. Her age is what drew Knives to her every time he came down here. She was the only child of the many sleepers he'd seen. For a while now he'd wanted to speak to her; get to know her. There were so many questions he'd wanted to ask her. Someone his own age would be nice to talk to besides Vash. He didn't like anyone else. Rem was tolerable for the most part but he still wanted better company.

A thought or rather an idea popped into Knives mind. Steve was always drunk and passing out. It would be so easy to steal his key-card, why not do it? He'd put it right back anyway. Even if he didn't, it wasn't like Steve would notice.

Knives walked down the empty halls, his foot steps echoing behind him. He made his way over to the elevator and pressed the number one button where all the crew members bedrooms were located. He stood back and watched the numbers above the door pass by. He was on the very bottom floor so it would take a little while to get there. As he waited he wondered if Steve would be in his room or not. His mind also raced with possiblities about the green haired girl. What was her name? Why was she here? What color are her eyes? Those were just some of the many things racing through his mind. He barely realized the door opening he was getting so lost in thought. The brightness of the lights brought him out of his thoughts. He stepped out of the elevator and took a right. It was the three door on the right hand side. He'd spent his whole life on this ship. He knew the place inch from inch. The places he was allowed to go anyway. Of course he knew most of them as well.

Knives slowly stepped in front of Steve's door. The white door automatically slid open and Knives winced as he hoped that wouldn't wake Steve up if he was in there. He peered through the doorway to see Steve passed out with booze scattered around his bed and below it. Knives slowly crept through the room making sure not to kick any empty beer bottles that were scattered all through out the room. About a foot from Steve's bed became more of a challenge. Most of the beer bottles were laying around his bed. Knives stood in an awkward position between some beer bottles as he reached out to Steve's key chain that held his key card. Slowly, but surely he grabbed the key chain and unlatched the key card from it without waking Steve. Knives mentally sighed as he stepped away from the bed and steve. As he did so he accidentally kicked a beer bottle a few inches. It rolled to the side a bit before it collided with another bottle and made a small, "tink!" sound. Knives cringed expecting Steve to wake up from that but all her heard was a loud snore. He regained his composure and quickly walked out of the room in case Steve really did wake up.

He took the elevator all the way back down to the last level. He stepped out of the elevator and walked confidently to the cold sleep room. He made a bee-line to the chamber that held the little girl. Knives positioned the key card on the slot and slide it through. There was a beep, the light above the pod turned red and computer voice said, "Awaking sleeper number 42. Preparing to open chamber." There was a long pause that seemed to last forever before the door slide open. A cold blast of air greeted Knive's feet and ankles. He stared at the little girl who still hadn't opend her eyes yet. He stood still and waited once more for her to awake.

Moments turned into minutes and minutes turned into an hour. At this point Knives was now sitting on the floor of the cold sleep chamber still staring at the little girl who had not awoken. He was starting to get worried. Had he done something wrong? Maybe she was dead? This could be bad. What would happen if the crew found out about what he did? He was about to get up and try to close the sleeper pod when the girl suddenly fell out of her pod. She fell directly onto her face she made a pained sound but did nothing else. Her legs were still hanging inside the pod, while the rest of her body was outside of it. Knives grabbed her legs and pushed them out of the pod and turned her over onto her back.

Her eyes were open now and they were the color of amethyst. Her eye lids were drooped over and she was breathing heavily still. Knives moved some hair away from her mouth and out of the way. He continued to stare at her silently before she spoke.

"W... wha-air... am I...?" Her voice was cracking and sounded like an old man on his death bed.

"You're aboard the S.E.E.D. My name is Knives." He replied to her, not even bothering to ask for her name.

"Wha-air are... my... parents?" She asked again, her voice was still brittle sounding and cracking.

"I don't know." Knives said honestly. "What is your name?"

She looked around at her surroundings for once instead of at him. After searching the room for a few moments her eyes landed on him again and she replied, "Clover."

He smiled for the first time that day before asking her, "Can you stand?"

"I don't... know..." She replied as Knives started to stand up with her.

She could barely stand on her own. She had to use Knives as support just to stand up. She looked around at her surrounding more as Knives helped her stand up. The last thing she remembered was stepping into a sleeper pod and being told she would wake up when they were at their destination.

"Are we there?" She asked, her voice becoming more clear and more feminine.

Before Knives had a chance to answer he heard foot steps coming their way. "You have to hide." He said to frantically. He helped her get behind her sleeper pod and sat her on the floor. After he did so he ran back around to the front of her pod. He swipped the card through the slot to try to close the pod back up. In all honestity he didn't know if that would work. However he guessed right and the pod door closed again and the light turned red. Not a moment too soon either because Steve was now in this row of sleepers.

"There you are! I knew you stole my key card you little monster!" Steve yelled at Knives, stomping over to him in a fit of rage. He saw the key card in his hand and looked to the side at the sleeper pod where a person should be. "What did you do?" Steve screamed at Knives, his blood boiling. Knives doesn't respond. He only stared at Steve with a defiant look. Of course this only angered Steve more and prompted him to say, "This room is off limts to your kind! You got that, monster?" Steve then proceeded to kick Knives in the forehead with the heel of his boot. Knives gave out a pained cry and was knocked backward into the control release for Clover's sleeper pod. Clover herself had been watching the exchange this whole time. She gasped at the sight of what this man had done in anger at a little boy.

"Where are they?" Steve screamed at Knives taking him by the shirt and lifting him up off the ground. Knives didn't say a word, he only looked at Steve through the blood running down his forehead.

"WHERE ARE THEY? WHAT DID YOU DO TO THEM?" Steve yelled almost at the top of his lungs at Knives. His eyes were blood-shot with anger.

Clover used all of her strength to stand up and walk over to the side of the big man, grab his arm and say, "I'm okay, see? Don't hurt him!" She pleaded him.

Steve stared at the little girl and softened up, letting Knives down. He took a step away before staring at her. "This is just great." Steve said exsaperated while face palming himself. "Well, let's go tell the rest of the crew what happened." Steve said through gritted teeth. "Don't think you aren't going unpunished for this, you little monster." Steve said throwing another remark back at Knives before marching both the children out the door.

They walked in silence the rest of the way to the elevator. Both of the children stood as far away from Steve as they could on the elevator ride. Once the elevator came to a stop, Steve grabbed a hold of Knive's shirt and dragged him along with him. They walked in a straight line to the observeration deck where most of the crew was. The beige door slide open slowly before Steve stepped in with Knives by the collar and Clover at his heel.

Rem, Rolin Joey and Vash all looked to the door as Steve entered. Rem immediately stood up as she saw Steve holding Knives by the collar, she looked as if she were about to walk over but stopped upon seeing Clover. Before anyone had a chance to ask any questions Steve was already speaking.

"I caught him in the cold sleep chamber. He stole my card and woke up this one." Steve said forcefully pointing his thumbing to his back side at Clover. Everyone was speechless for a moment. The first to speak was Rem.

"Let him go Steve." She said in her firm but gentle voice.

"Like hell I am! He woke up a S.E.E.D and you just expect him to go unpunished?" Steve shouted in anger.

"Let me handle this." Rem said said in a more serious demanding tone.

"I know you Rem. You'll let him get away with it and I'm not going to let that happen!" Steve turned away from Rem to a scared faced Knives.

"Hold on, now." Joey said speaking up. "Rem is the one raising these kids so she should be the one to punish them." Joey said trying to calm Steve down.

Steve looked from Joey to Rem and gave a glance at Rolin before releasing Knives and storming out the door angerily, clearly out-numbered. Rem seemed to relax as Steve left. She walked over to Knives and knelt down in front of him. "What you did was very wrong Knives. You need to stay in your room the rest of the day and think about you've done." Rem said looking at Knives sternly.

Knives stared at her, suprised that she was actually punishing him. He gave a glance at Vash and Clover before walking out the door to go to his bedroom. After he left Rem turned her attention to Clover. She gave her a smile and asked, "What's your name?"

"Clover." She replied timidly.

"That's a lovely name." Rem said giving her a closed-eyed smile. She stood up and lead Clover over to Joey. "What do you think we should do?" Rem asked him concerned.

"That's easy. Just put her back to sleep." Rolin chimed in pushing his glasses up his nose further.

"We can't just put her back to now can we?" Rem asked unsure if that was the best course of action.

Joey folded his hands together and rested his chin on in them a pondering method before speaking. "I'd like to look up information on Clover before I make any decisions."

Rolin seemed displeased by this answer but wasn't in any place to disagree with him. Joey started typing away on a keyboard in front of him. "What's your last name?" Joey asked Clover glancing over at her.

"Teegan." Clover said nervously, having no clue where she was or who any of these people were. She watched the man type at the keyboard more before there was a small 'bleep' sound.

"It says here that Clover is 5 years old was born in the former United States of America and there aren't any other Teegans abroad."

"My parent's aren't here?" Clover asked horrified. "They told me they were coming to!" Clover started to son uncontrollably where she was standing. The whole crew looked at her in sadness as they guessed what might have happened.

Joey and Rem exchanged silent looks before Joey went on to say, "I think we should find Mary and Steve and discuss this with them further." Rem stared at Clover and was reluctant to leave Clover in this state but this wasn't something that could wait.

Rem looked at Vash before saying, "We need to talk alone. Keep her company while we're gone okay?" Rem gave a friendly smile at Clover before going out the door with Joey and Rolin.

Vash stared at Clover worriedly. "If it makes you feel any better, Knives and I don't know our parents but Rem is like our mother. Maybe she can be your mother to?" Vash asked her trying to cheer her up.

"I already have a mom!" Clover cried out at him. "I want my mom and dad!" Clover said as tearing kept running down her face. Her parents were suppose to be here as well. They promised her but they're not... Clover didn't know what to do with herself without her parents. They were her care-givers and she kne nothing without them.

Vash stared at Clover for a moment before saying "I really like your name." He grinned at her to make her feel more welcomed and cheer her up.

Clover looked at him through teary eyes and said hoarsely through sobs, "Th-ank yo-you."

"What's your name?" Clover asked despite herself.

"My name is Vash." He replied to Clover unsure of what to do to make her feel better.

"You have a... funny name." Clover said to Vash calming down as best as she could. Even at the age of 5 she knew that crying wasn't going to solve anything.

"Rem gave it to me. She says she really likes the name." Vash said smiling slightly at her. "Can I ask you a question?"

"What?" Clover replied wiping the tears away with her hands and sleeves.

"What's cold sleep like?" Vash asked excitedly.

"I don't know. I remember getting into the chamer and then falling asleep. Then I woke up and fell on the ground and that's when I saw Knives."

Vash's smile dropped slightly. He'd hope that she might know something about it but unfortunately she didn't. "What was Earth like then?" Vash asked hoping she at least knew about that.

Clover stared at him questioningly. He didn't know about Earth? She was starting to wonder if Rem was his mother and if he was born on the space ship. "Where you born here?" Clover asked him without answering his question.

"No, Rem says Knives and I were born in something called a plant." After that explaination Vash sat down on a booth-like seat and signaled for Clover to sit with him. Clover walked over to the seat and sat down beside him. She stared out at the blankness of space through the huge window for a few moments before Vash said, "You never answered my question."

"What question?" Clover asked completely forgetting about it; being in a new enviroment.

"The one about Earth! What's it like?" Vash asked his light green eyes stared at Clover with curuousity. Clover thought about it, there was so much to tell...

After about 20 minutes of answering questions and explaining things to Vash, the door to the observation deck slide open and the crew walked in a single file line in. Joey was in the lead, followed by Rem, Mary, Rolin and finally Steve. They all walked over to Clover and Vash they looked to an from the children for a bit before Joey spoke up.

"We've decided that..." Joey paused for dramatic effect. "since you've been awakened early. It wouldn't be fair to force you go back to cold sleep. You're now an offical member of the S.E.E.D.S crew. Welcome aboard, Clover!" Joey said with a big smile that was formed quickly by all the crew members except for Rolin who had wanted to put her back in cold sleep..

"Hey, you're going to be with us now! That's great!" Vash said excitedly with a big smile on his face.

Clover stared at everyone, unable to comperhand so much in such a short amount of time. She forced a smile back at everyone regardless of that. She knew this was going to be her new home for the forseeable future. Wouldn't this be better then cold sleep, anyway?

End Chapter One


	2. Escape

**One month later.**

Clover had integrated with the crew well. Everyone seemed to like her, especially Steve who seemed very happy to have a normal child abroad the ship. Rowan had come to terms with Clover being here now and although he didn't peculiarly like Clover; he didn't dislike her either. Clover and Knives had become good friends over the past month, they spend a lot of time together. Knives taught Clover more academic structures, while Clover taught Knives things about Earth. Mostly things Earth children did for fun. Of course it's not to say that Vash and Clover didn't get along. They got along prefectly well with each other. In fact one would say the only reason Clover and Knives get along better is because she met Knives first; knives was the one who awakened her. Clover also loved spending time with Rem. She learned much from her and had turned into her mother-figure.

It was a pretty usual day on the S.E.E.D.S ship. The only interesting thing happening today was the fact that all the children were getting their hair cut. Rem had just finished finished cutting Clover's hair. Before her hair had went down to the middle of her back like the boy's but now...

Rem unhooked the straps of the cloth that kept the old hair off of Clover's clothes. "Now your hair should be a lot more managable." Rem said giving her, her signature warm smile.

"I want to see!" Clover said grabbing the mirror that Rem handed her. Her hair now reached slightly past her shoulders and was layered to take some of the volume off it. Clover had such thick hair that it was hard to comb it sometimes. Clover stared at her new hair and smiled. "I look older now!" She mused. Rem giggled slightly but kept her smile.

"Wow, you look nice!" Vash said to Clover as he walked over to the chair it get his own hair done. The comment made Clover smile brightly before she went over to sit with Knives. Knives stared at Clover's new hair cut but said nothing. He was acting strange lately. He'd stopped hanging out with the three of them as much and was spending more and more time alone.

"What do you think of my hair cut?" Clover asked Knives happily, fishing for a compliment.

Knives glanced at her and said seldomly, "It looks fine..." before going back into his thoughts. Clover frowned at him before turning back to watch Rem cut Vash's hair. She cut it above his shoulders before cutting it into what Clover could only describe as a broom shape. After she was done with his hair she called out to Knives to cut his hair next. Clover looked over to her left but found Knives wasn't there.

The next day the whole crew sat down for a meal together. All three of the children had their hair cut but Knives had did his own hair. Clover thought it looked better then Vash's strange hair cut.

"That's a wonderful hair cut Knives." Rem praised Knives kindly.

"Thank you. As strange as it may sound, I actually feel... refreshed." Knives replied to her.

Mary giggled before saying, "You know you look very intellectual."

"Why you look like a regular little philospher." Rowan chimed in

"What do I look like?" Vash asked excitedly. To which all the crew except Steve said,

"A momma's boy." Everyone shared laughter while Vash said how we were all mean. The fun times were quickly interrupted by Steve, who slammed his beer down on the counter.

"I'm surprised you can all be eating at the same table as those little monsters." Steve said with a wicked look on his face.

"Steve, I think you've had one too many." Mary said worriedly.

"No I haven't baby." Steve replid groping her breast after he walked over from the counter to the table.

"Hey, Steve come on. Don't you have some work to do some place else?" Rowan said trying to get Steve off of Mary.

"Oh shut up Poindexter! I can always do that later." Steve said still hanging all over Mary.

"You're a disgrace." Knives said out of nowhere. He was glaring intensely at Steve. "Now is that any way for a grown man to act in the presence of innocent children?"

Them both glared tensionly at each other before Steve broke out into manic laugter and exited the dinning area.

"He sure has been acting crazy lately." Mary commented still on edge even after he left.

"That's because he's afraid." Knives replied darkly before taking a drink out of his coffee mug.

**Two days later**

Clover and Knives were together in the rec room alone. Clover had always felt closer to Knives then Vash simply because he awoken her. However, personality-wise she liked Vash a lot more. She wasn't sure how Vash felt about her, though. On the other hand... she assumed Knives must like her a lot to get in trouble to wake her up.

"Do you like me?" She asked Knives as they walked around.

Knives was caught off-guard by the question. "Besides Vash you're the only one on this ship I care for." Knives replied to her honestly. His answer made her extremely happy.

"I like you two." She said to him with a bright smile before leaning over and giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"What was that?" Knives asked her with a shocked glare before putting a hand against his cheek.

"That's what people on Earth do to prople they like, silly!" She said with a giggle. "If you really like someone you kiss them on the mouth!" Clover said finally.

Knives stopped dead in his tracks and turned to Clover and stared at her.

"What's wrong?" She asked him concerned. Knives closed the space between them and gave her a peck on the lips before backing away. Clover blushed but smiled at his sudden kiss.

**A few hours later**

"Can you tell me more about Earth?" Vash asked Clover eagerly.

"I don't know anything more." Clover said honestly. She had basically told him everything she coud about Earth and her life there. Vash gave her an oh, but said nothing else. They sat in silence for a little while and in that silence Clover couldn't help but think about how much she liked both Knives and Vash. She was trying to think which of them she liked better but she couldn't really decide. In her little girl mind she came up with a plan to find out which she liked better. She had watched some movies back home about women choosing her boyfriend by how good of a kisser they were. She decided to put it into practice.

"I know something I can show you." Clover said to Vash with a bright smile. "On Earth to say that we like someone; we kiss them!"

"Kiss?" Vash repeated having no idea what it was.

"Yeah! This is what you do: Put your mouth against my mouth and hold it there for a few seconds and then stop." Clover explained to him her version of kissing.

"Oh, I should do that with Rem, then!" Vash said happy that he had learned a new way to show her how much he cared for her.

Clover frowned at his mention of Rem, she was hoping that he would kiss her like Knives did but that wasn't the case. She had to take matters into her own hands, then. She grabbed Vash's face and made him look at her before kissing him. In the middle of their kiss they heard the door open.

"Oh there you guys-" Knives stopped in the middle of his sentence as he saw the kiss. There was an awkward silence all around until Knives turned around without a word and walked away.

"Hey, Knives wait!" Vash called out to him. He got off of Clover's bed and ran after his brother out the door.

Clover pouted on her bed. Her kiss with Vash was interrupted and she couldn't help but feel as if Knives didn't like that she had kissed Vash.

**One hour later **

Clover had been taking a shower in her room when she heard gun shots. Back on Earth you heard a lot of these things, there was no mistaking it. Clover ducked down in the shower and covered her head in fear. Her parents had always told her if she heard gun shots she was to get on the floor and stay there until they came to get her.. After paralyzing fear for a few minutes Clover finally worked up the courage to step out of the shower. She dried herself off quickly and put on a change of clothes. She didn't dare go out of her room. She was going to wait until one of the crew came to get her. After about a half an hour of waiting there was another single gun shot. Clover had no idea what was going on, she was extremely frightened and too young to compherend what was going on. A minute later an alarm went off and a computerized voice kept repeating, "Please proceed to the escape pods!"

**Vash, Knives and Rem**

"Rem! What's the matter?!" Vash called out to Rem from inside the escape pod. Rem was standing outside of the escape pod lost in thought.

"You two go on ahead!" Rem yelled to them over the blaring alarm. She grabbed and twisted the handle to close the ship from the outside.

"I don't understand what you mean! Why?!" Vash cried out to her desperately.

"I can't leave Joey and Clover here by themselves. I have to find a way to save the others."

"But the program is already running!" Knives called out to her.

"You've got to come with us Rem! Please don't leave us!" Vash pleaded to her.

"I'm sorry, Vash. If Alex were alive I believe in my heart, he would do the same thing." Tears started to spill from her eyes as she said her good byes. "Vash, take care of Knives. Don't worry." Vash caught the last glimspe of Rem he ever saw as the doors closed to the escape pod closed and they were launched into space.

As soon as the pod door closed Rem ran straight towards Clover's room. She found her sitting on her bed with tears streaming down her eyes. "Clover, you have to get out of here!" Rem cried out to her. They both ran as fast as they could to a locker with suits designed for this sort of situation. "Clover, I don't have any time to take you to the shuffles myself." Rem said kneeling down to her level and looking into her eyes. She then proceeded to quickt tell Clover where to go. She gave her a quick hug before they both ran opposite ways.

Clover did her best to remember where to go. She found the escape pods and they were already launching. The last pods door was closing, she had no choice but to run as fast as she could to and dive into it. She narrowly made it before the door closed and it launched into space. The pod was on a course to the planet below and as Clover stared out of the escape pod's window she saw the place that she had called home for the last time as it exploded. Tears welled up in her eyes once again as she realized that she may truly be alone this time and not know for how long.

End of Chapter Two

Authors Notes:

Sorry that this took so long but well at least I didn't give up on the story. Please tell your friends and spread this story around because the more support I have the more encouraged I feel to keep writing! Reuploaded to fix spelling and grammar errors.


	3. December

**December**

The escape pod finally touched down on the planet's surface. A pair of amethyst eyes peeked out of the window into the darkness and all they could see were miles and miles of seemingly endless sand. The only thing of note was this planet's nighttime wasn't as dark as Earth's. She debated about staying inside the escape pod but decided ultimately to leave it. Clover pushed a red button on the side of the pod with her index finger and could only hope it was the button to open the door. After a few seconds the door made a small hissing sound before sliding up and open. Very carefully Clover tested the ground she walked on; it seemed stable. She was the first human to set foot on this new nameless planet. She wouldn't realize this until she was older. She looked up into the sky and saw streams of yellowish lights pouring down onto the planet's surface. She knew it was the other escape pods and ships carrying the people totally unaware in cold sleep. What was she going to do now? What if this planet had monsters on it? She was so scared of being alone on this planet. She did the only reasonable thing she could think of for a 5 year old. She walked towards some smoke in the distance.

**200 Miles Away**

"Vash! Vash! Come on already, stand up! Let's go!" Knives said as he kneeled beside his brother.

As Vash came into consciousness he was immediately being coaxed by his brother to start moving. It only took him a few moments to remember what transpired. Right away Vash lunged out at him in an attack.

"Hey, don't be that way! It's just the two of us now! We should at least try to act like brothers."

Vash slammed his fish into the hard ground below before crying, "Murderer! Your whole life is a lie! You killed Rem, the crew...and Clover! You killed them all!"

Knives face twisted into a horrific mad smile as he replied, "Yeah, spectacular isn't it? They all die. Except, of course, for the fraction that will survive because of Rem's incessant meddling." After a short pause Knives turned his back to Vash and proceeded to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Vash asked Knives still unsure of what he should do.

"There is no use staying here. Come on or would you rather stay and cry your little eyes out?" Knives teased him.

Vash hated him so much right now but he had no idea what he would do alone. He reluctantly pushed himself onto his feet and followed his brother.

**A few months later**

Clover had found her way to a bigger ship where sleepers had awoken that first day. She felt a lot better with other people but she was still mostly alone. A nice older lady had taken her in when she told her that her parents were still on Earth. However, she never felt like she did with her family or even with the S.E. crew. Today she was standing in line with the older lady who liked to be referred to as Aunty Nancy for their daily water ration. The adults had worked out a system to use to ships resources but they weren't sure how long it would last. They were towards the back of the line but Aunty Nancy told her that patience is a virtue. She didn't know what that meant but she guessed it meant she just needed to wait. It wasn't long before there was a commotion. Someone that had less patience had ran over to the water supply and tried to steal some! All the sudden everyone was angry and pushing past each other. She gripped Aunty Nancy's hand in fear who wisely walked out of line with her to a safe distance. She told her they would calm down eventually and then they would get their water. Something strange happened, though. Clover saw the plant's bulb grow really bright. It almost looked like it would explode or burn everyone! It did manage to scare everyone straight, though. It gave the people in charge of supplies the time to reform everyone into a single file line again. Aunty Nancy took her place back in line with Clover. Walking back Clover spotted two figures on top of a hill in the distance. She couldn't make out much and before long they had vanished.

**13 years later**

"Table number 2." A slightly over-weight, black haired, 5'10 man said ringing the bell and placing a plate of food on the counter. Clover tucked a dark piece of green hair behind her ear before grabbing the plate and taking it over to table number 2.

She put the plate in front of the customer before asking, "Can I get you anything else?"

The guy had dark blond hair and was wearing a dark maroon business suit. He eyed her with obvious bad intentions before cupping a hand over her right butt cheek and saying, "No thanks sweet heart." He smirked up at her and let his hand linger there a few moments before he dropped it and went onto eating his food.

Clover mentally let a sigh of relief as she walked away from his table. She quickly recomposed herself; she was use to guys treating her this way. After her shift was over it was now time for her to wash the dishes. It usually took her anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and half depending on how many people she served. Today was a busy day so it took her a little longer then usual. After about an hour and 47 minutes she sighed with relief. She was finally finished. She turned all the lights off in the bar before heading out and locking the door behind her.

As Clover made her way home she rubbed her pruney hands and massaged the back of her neck with her left hand. Work always left her sore but then again most work did. Every other day she had to do various other things like cleaning or taking the garbage out. Honestly, besides counting the money and cooking... she did everything. She hated it but Martin made it pretty clear from when he first took her in that he was not a parent or her friend. He was in no way a parental figure and only used her as cheap labor. She never even got payed for her time. Martin said that the reason for it was because she was living in his house, eating his food and he bought basic essentials for her. So, that is where her wages went; rent. She had told him once that she thought moving out was good for both of them. That way he could give her a salary and she wouldn't be a bother to him anymore. He had none of that, though. He said that she could move out anytime she wanted but she wouldn't have a job if she did.

She met Martin after Aunty Nancy was killed by some thugs that wanted their supplies. She wouldn't let them have them because she needed them for both of them. They killed her in cold blood while Clover watched. They would have killed her as well if it weren't for Martin coming along when he did. Their baseball bats and two by fours were out matched by his gun. He saved her that day and even though he's unpleasant, she owes him her life. That was about 8 years ago. Three years later a large group of people, including her and Martin helped to build the town of December. Of course she hasn't been working at Martin's Restaurant and Bar for 8 years. It only opened 3 years ago. Before then she had been helping everyone around December with odd jobs when it was first being built.

She sighed as she walked through the front door. She took her shoes off and placed them on the welcome mat before proceeding to do some light cleaning around the house. When she had the time after work she usually made herself busy by sewing herself some clothes. She made all her own clothes because it was cheaper then Martin buying her clothes. She didn't really mind, though. It gave her something to do and her clothes always meant more when she made them. Plus it didn't hurt that she could make them however she wanted. She liked that she looked different from most everyone else in town.

Clover made her way to her bedroom before closing the door and taking off her waitress uniform for something more casual. She put on a purple blouse with green stitching that matched her hair and eyes with a semi-long skirt of the same color. It had a slight slit up the side so she could move around in it more freely. After getting dressed more casually she took a seat in a chair and grabbed her latest creation along with a needle and thread before being to sew. Minutes ticked by and before long she had been sewing her latest project for an hour. She yawned before setting it back on the floor gently and climbing into her small bed. She pulled her ratty blanket over herself before closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep.

The next morning Clover awoke at her usual time 10 AM. It gave her time to brush her hair, clean herself and usually a little extra time to walk around, watch the birds fly around or whatever else she wanted to do. After doing her hygiene routine she put her shoes on before walking out the door. She breathed in the fresh and crisp morning air before setting off to go sit at bench by Miss Angela's bakery. It always smelled nice outside of her shop. She just liked to sit outside and take in the smells.

Walking to Angela's shop, she caught a glimpse of something red in the distance. She didn't pay much mind to it until it got closer. At first she thought it was a wagon or something of the like but no it was more long and less wide. She sat down on the bench and watched as the figure drew closer. There was no doubt about it, now. It was a man. A rather tall one at that. Upon closer inspection she could see that this man was wearing a red trench coat, yellow sun glasses and had blond hair.

"What an odd man." Clover said out loud to herself. Her heart skipped a beat as she studied the style of his hair. It can't be...can it? She thought to herself. There was no mistaking it. That hair style was strikingly similar to someone she knew a very long time ago. She looked on at him with dead silence not knowing what to say. At this point in time he was only a few feet away from her. He seemed to take note of her as well and removed his sunglasses. He had sea green eyes. It was him; it was Vash! Her face lit up before she smiled at him. It seemed to take Vash a little longer to realize who she was but as she stood up and closed the gap between them he finally realized who she was.

"Vash!" Clover cried out as she ran over to him and embraced him in a hug. "I can't believe it. I- I didn't know if I'd ever see you again!" She felt hot water come out of her eyes as she hugged him tighter. She felt his arms wrap around her in a gentle embrace. They stayed like that for a few seconds maybe even a whole minute before Clover pulled away and looked up at him through watery eyes. He had a content smile on his face and he was crying as well.

"I can't believe it, either. I saw the ship blow up and you weren't in the escape pod with us. I'm so glad that you're alive." Vash finally said at last.

"You've gotten so tall!" Clover exclaimed as she beamed up at him. "I can't believe it!"

He laughed heartily at her comment and there was a content silence. The silence was broken by Clover saying,

"Good thing you never changed your hair style. I would have just had to hope that you remembered me." She said making a remark about her unique appearance. She suddenly remembered that she had to go to work, "Hey, I've really got to go to work, now. I work at Martin's Restaurant and Bar, you should stop by while I'm on break." She ran off and gave him a big wave before calling out to him, "I'll see you later!"

She spent half her shift feeling bright and cherry. A lot happier then she usually was. Martin seemed to pick up on it and was rather suspicious but didn't question her. Finally half way into her shift Vash came into the restaurant and bar. He took a seat at the bar's counter and Clover happily took his order. After she called out the order to Martin she made herself her own food. Once both of the foods were done she took them out to counter, one in each hand. She sat Vash's plate down in front of him her own in front of the stool next to him.

"Is this where you've been this whole time?" Vash asked her leaning onto the bar's counter and using both his arms as support, ignoring his food for now.

"Mostly, yes," Clover replied "but for a long time a lot of us just lived beside an old S.E.E.D.S ship. When I first came out of the escape pod I just walked towards the direction of the other falling ships. I was hoping to run into you and Knives but I came across another ship first and decided it was best to just stay there instead. After all, I had no idea were you two were at."

Vash seemed to grow very quiet suddenly and she wasn't sure why.

"Oh, hey I almost forgot to ask. Where is Knives? I didn't see him come into town with you."

"We parted ways 2 years ago." Vash said suddenly very serious as he ate his meal.

"But you guys are brothers - twins! Something really bad must have happened if you guys parted ways." Clover was very worried now. What happened between them and was Knives alright?

"So, you've been alone this whole time?" Vash asked her before picking up his fork and cutting into his food and taking a bite.

"Oh, no. A few days after getting to the ship I met a nice older lady named Nancy. I was with her for 5 years. She taught me as much stuff as she could that I needed to know. Sadly she was killed 8 years ago. Since then Martin has taken care of me."

They spent the remainder of break catching up and eating.

"Well, I guess I'd better get back to work. We can talk more later okay?" Clover said giving him a small forced smile.

"Sure, I'd like that." Vash said giving her a sincere closed eyed smile and a dismissive hand wave.

After her shift was over she caught Martin before he left. "Martin, may I please cut my shift short today?" She asked him politely.

"What, why the hell would I let you do that?" He asked her bewildered.

"Well, it's just that an old friend showed up and I haven't seen him in 13 years, please Martin!" She was practically begging him, now.

He narrowed his eyes at her for a moment before sighing and saying, "Okay but you need to finish the rest of your work early tomorrow then."

"Oh thank you!" Clover said brightly before giving him a quick hug and happily walking out the door.

She was surprised to see Vash leaning up against the wall waiting outside for her.

"You didn't wait my whole shift did you?" Clover asked waiting anxiously on his answer.

"No, I went out and did other things. I came back here a few minutes ago." Vash said giving her a reassuring smile.

She returned his smile before linking arms with him and walking off to the center of town together. They sat on a bench and looked up at the night sky together.

"It's hard to believe it's been 13 years..." Clover said absentmindedly. Vash remained silent, he was a lot more silent then she remembered him being actually. She didn't know if that was because he just grew up, because of everything that happened or even maybe because what happened between Knives and him. That was still a mystery to her.

They looked at the night sky for a long time just enjoying each others company. The silence was finally broken by Vash who asked,

"Where do we go from here?"

A little shocked by the sudden question Clover looked up at him asked what he meant.

"Should I stay and here and live here with you? Do we find somewhere else to live?"

_He's getting a little ahead of himself there._ Clover thought to herself. Sure now that they found each other she didn't want to just be split up again but...no wait what was she thinking. There was no way she was getting separated from her long lost friend again. Vash was probably the only person she had left in this world. One that cared about her anyway.

"Well... I have a job here... but I don't really get paid. Martin says my room and board are my wages but I don't want to work as a slave forever for him. I don't really know what else to do, though."

"Come with me. We can explore this place together. There has to be more then just all of this out there." He gestured out to the sandy wasteland in and out of town. "There has to be... an Eden. The Eden that Rem always talked about."

She hadn't really thought about that before. It was true that beyond the S.E.E.D.S ships and what farmers worked their blood, sweat and tears to make some places compatible of growing seeds; there really didn't look like much else was out there. Everyone had probably only explored 1% of this world. Maybe Vash was right? Maybe there was more and you just needed to find it? It sounded dangerous and exciting. It sure sounded like more fun then just living here

"You know... I think I might just take you up on that offer." Clover said giving him a bright smile.

"Oh good! I was really hoping you would say that!" Vash said jumping off the bench while pulling Clover off it and giving her a huge excited hug. She smiled gleefully back at him before wiggling her way out of his grasp.

"When do we leave?" Clover asked him happily, a sparkle in her eyes.

"Tomorrow!" He exclaimed still excited over the prospect.

Clover couldn't help but giggle at his exuberance before replying, "Alright well I need to go get my things and tell Martin, then." Vash told Clover his room number at the local inn before she rushed off to pack her belongings.

She crept into the house quietly before walking over to her room. She put all her clothes, hair brush, needle and thread, plus various other things that were hers into a nap-sack. She looked around at her now empty room and actually felt a little sad. Sure this wasn't the best life but was had been her home for nearly 5 years. It was structured and stable and she was giving this up to go on what could be a wild goose chase. She pushed the thoughts away as quickly as they came. If they did find an Eden on this planet it would be so much better then what she had here. She had to try. Besides she didn't want to lose Vash. She suspected if she choose to stay he would as well. At least for a while anyway... then he would eventually leave. She sighed before opening up the drawer on her nightstand. She kept something very precious in there. That something was a locket her parents gave her right before she boarded the S.E.E.D.S ship. It was an ornate gold locket with a picture of both her parents in it. It wasn't there, though. No... that couldn't be... it had to be there. Where else would it be? Clover scoured her bedroom for any trace of the precious locket. She looked behind her nightstand before she heard a male voice say,

"Are you looking for this?"

She turned around quickly to see Martin standing in her doorway holding her locket. The heart-shaped locket was dangling between his fingers temptingly. She smiled slightly before getting up and walking over to him.

"Yes, thank you. I was looking-" Just as she reached a hand out to grab it he pulled it out of her reach. She looked at him shocked and confused. "Martin... please give me my locket."

"I'm not stupid girl. I saw you with that guy. I know what you're planning on doing." He glared at her with contempt. "You were going to run off with that boy and leave me high and dry, trying to run the restaurant by myself. Well, I won't have it. You're staying here whether you like it or not."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing! She really was just a slave to him! "Martin! I've worked for you faithfully for years. PLEASE, let me leave. I'm sure you can find someone else that can help you."

"Ha, yeah and then I would have to pay them. I'm making a killing right now and if you left I would barely have enough to get by. I'd have to hire two new people! Of course you can leave if you really want to but if you do... I get to keep this." He dangled her locket in front of her face for a moment before shoving it deep into his pocket. "I'm sure it would sell for a pretty penny. Of course you'd have to rip out the stupid picture." He smiled at her wickedly knowing all too well how much that locket meant to her.

It didn't seem like she could say anything to change his mind so instead she did the only thing she could do. She cried. Tears started to stream down her face as the realization that she had only two choices. Stay here and work for Martin or leave and see her locket pawned or something worse she didn't want to think of.

"If you try to get your little boyfriend to use force to get it off me as well. I'll just tell the little town sheriff that he stole money from me and will be thrown into jail! That or I can just kill him and say he was threatening my life. Since I'm such a nice guy I'll give you a day to think about this. I know in the end you'll make the right choice." With that he turned on his heel and left to his own bedroom.

She sat on the floor of her bedroom and cried to herself as she thought about her situation - no her ultimatum. After a few minutes of crying she wiped her tears away before splashing herself with some water. She made sure she looked presentable before running over to Vash's hotel room.

She calmly knocked on room 4 and waited for him. Not long after the door opened to a happy looking Vash. He stared down at her before his face fell slightly. "You don't have anything else you want to take with you?" He asked puzzled.

She tried her best to remain calm but she felt her defenses weakening in the presence of an old friend. Her face scrunched up slightly before tears rolled down her already tear-stained cheeks. She buried her face into his trench coat and hugged him tightly.

A very confused Vash hugged her back before pulling away and looking at her and asking, "What's wrong? Did something happen?" He lead her over to the sofa and closed the door behind them where Clover then proceeded to tell him what had happened.

She had to stop a few times to calm down and reform words or sentences so Vash could understand her but she finally finished.

"How awful!" Vash exclaimed before standing up quickly. He had stared to cry himself a little as she told him her story. She had no idea why. "Let's go over there right now and talk with him!" Before she even had a chance to say anything to him Vash had marched right out the door.

Clover slowly stood up and was about to run after him until he appeared a moment later in the door way saying,

"Uh, actually... you should probably lead. I don't know where he lives."

She couldn't help but smile at his goofiness before leading him down the hall way, to the lobby, out the front door and over to Martin and hers place of residence.

He didn't even bother knocking on the door before entering and searching every room until he found Martin's.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing in here!" Martin yelled at him as Vash barged through his doorway. He had been reading a book and laying on his bed.

"Sir! I humbly request that you please give Miss Clover back her locket!" Vash said dramatically which only caused Martin to laugh at him.

Martin slung his legs over the side of the bed before walking over to Vash. He eyed him up before saying, "And why the hell should I do that?" He glared up at Vash and even though Martin was older, fatter and shorter than he was; he was still an imposing figure.

"Hey, come on now. Is there something we could do to work this out?" Vash asked nicely rubbing the back of head and giving him a nervous smile.

Martin smirked and thought it over. "You know what... there just might be. How about this. Since, Clover is like my daughter and I don't just want to give her away to some guy I just met..." Obviously he didn't mean the daughter part he was just using it as leverage. "How about you pay me a dowry."

Vash and Clover looked at each other in confusion before both asking at the same time, "What's a dowry?"

His smirk grew even larger before he said, "A dowry is where a potential spouse pays a fee to the family of the bride. Since I'm the closest thing that you have to family. That would be me."

End of Chapter 3

Author's notes:

Cliff-hanger! I bet you guys weren't expecting that. I think there are a few things I should clear up about this chapter before anyone asks. Vash probably seems different, correct? Well, that is not bad characterization. I can assure you of that. In fact I feel that right, now Vash isn't like how we see him in the anime. Not fully anyway. He is very young right, now and thus still learning about himself. Yes, yes I know I never mentioned the locket before. There is a very simple reason for that and that is because... I hadn't thought this far ahead. I honestly only have a general outline in my head of where this story is going. Every else is completely made up on the spot. So, just try to pretend that Miss Clover had her locket the whole time. Hats off to Wayward for proof reading this chapter. If not for you this story would look like last chapter... which I didn't realize was such a mess until I reread it.

WaywardMind has a Trigun story as well check it out:  u/4025008/

Also please review and recommend my story if you liked it. It may not seem like it but this chapter alone took me about 4 hours to write and another 2 hours to proof-read. That's a lot of effort I'm putting in for just a fan fiction story.


	4. Chapter 4

Update time again boys and girls! I just wanted to give you guys another update since so many of you have been asking about the story. Yes, I have been working on it... slowly. For all you newbies to FAC you should know that I do not update often. I do update at least once a year but I usually update around every 6 months. I know it's a long period of time but that's just the way it is. I have real life stuff that goes on, you know? I don't like to write 24/7 either. I have to be in a special mood to write.

Anyhow! This chapter is 1,000 words long right now and unless I make it a part two will probably be the longest one yet... maybe. The last chapter was massive!

"But Misty! I want an ETA!"

It'll be done with it's done. That's all you get.


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